Prescription Drug Injury

Prescription Drug Injury

Did you suffer from a drug injury in Texas?

When doctors prescribe drugs to their patients, it is always for the purpose of treating some ailment or relieving pain their patients are suffering. But what happens when the very thing that is supposed to help patients does more harm than good?

All prescription drugs have side effects. Some drugs may make patients drowsy, cause an upset stomach, mild diarrhea or constipation, and other such mild irritations. While such prescription drug side effects may be annoying, they are usually manageable.

However, some prescription drug side effects can be life altering or even deadly.

If you suffered a severe prescription drug injury in Texas, you do not have to take on the drug company alone. See if you qualify to file a drug injury lawsuit by contacting Texas pharmaceutical lawyer Michael Anthony Emma at The Emma Law Firm today for a FREE case evaluation.

Prescription Drug Injury Overview

Several common over-the-counter and prescription drugs on the market today have been linked to serious side effects including various cancers, heart attacks, severe skin reactions, uncontrollable bleeding, blood clots, liver failure, and neurological defects, to name a few.

Drugs often come with a list of warnings about potential adverse side effects each drug has been linked to. This warning list is the result of tests drug companies are required to perform before the drug is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The tests must show that the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks.

Doctors and patients also have to weigh these risks against the benefits they expect to receive from the drug. For example, a blood thinner may be a necessity for a heart patient even though it puts them at greater risk for a major bleeding event.

The problem for patients is not when they are faced with medication side effects that are disclosed to them by the drug makers, but when they are faced with a medication side effect that the drug company withheld from its patients.

Drug injury lawsuits typically allege that the drug injury that was suffered was not disclosed to patients or their doctors, and had they known about the risk, they would have found a safer option.

Examples of Severe Prescription Drug Side Effects

Here are several examples of medication side effects that have been the subject of drug injury lawsuits based on severe pharmaceutical drug side effects patients claim drug companies withheld from them:

• Accutane. Drug injury lawsuits allege that the acne medication Accutane has been linked to birth defects and known to cause severe depression and suicidal thoughts.
• Benicar. The blood pressure drug Benicar has been the subject of drug injury lawsuits alleging that the medication caused them to develop severe gastrointestinal side effects similar to Celiac disease.
• Lipitor. Prescribed to treat heart disease, Lipitor allegedly causes the onset of diabetes, especially in postmenopausal women.
• Nexium/Prilosec. Nexium was among the top 10 most prescribed drugs in the country in 2016, but this popular heartburn drug has also been the subject of drug injury lawsuits for allegedly causing kidney damage, kidney failure, heart attacks, and sudden death. Other heartburn and acid reflux medications in the same class, known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), have also been linked to the same medication side effects including: Prilosec, Prevacid, and Protonix.
• Onglyza. This diabetes treatment drug allegedly causes pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer, and heart failure.
• Testosterone. In 2014, The New York Times reported that the number of testosterone prescriptions had tripled since 2001. Men were being prescribed testosterone creams, gels, and injections to treat a condition known as “low-t” or testosterone deficiency. However, many of the symptoms men were citing were really just the natural signs of aging and didn’t merit the prescription of a powerful testosterone product. But the promises of increased energy and sex drive in the ad campaigns of drug companies were too hard to resist. Studies have found that low-t drugs increase the risk of having a heart attack. Testosterone linked heart attacks and strokes are now the subject of several drug injury lawsuits.
• Zithromax. The popular and powerful antibiotic Zithromax (azithromycin), sold as Z-Pak or Zmax, has been linked to liver failure, kidney failure, heart attacks, and the potentially deadly skin reaction Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS).

Prescription Drug Injury Lawsuit

This list above barely scratches the surface of the number over-the-counter and prescription drugs that have been the subject of drug injury lawsuits.

When patients suffer from a severe drug injury, the damages typically go beyond the physical injury itself. Patients are usually faced with steep medical expenses, lost income, as well as the emotional and mental anguish associated with such illnesses. A drug injury lawsuit can help patients recover such costs.

If you or a loved one were injured by a prescription drug in Texas, you may qualify to file a drug injury lawsuit. You do not have to fight the drug companies alone. Enlist the help of an experienced Texas drug injury lawyer today.

The Emma Law Firm offers a FREE consultation in this type of legal matter. Fill out the form below for more information.